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Ing Horde
The Ing Horde are a warring, ferocious race of tribal beings native to Dark Aether, and are the arch-nemeses of the Luminoth. History During the Golden Age of the Luminoth, a stellar object (now revealed as a Leviathan) struck Aether with such great force that it caused a rift in space and time, creating Dark Aether and giving birth to the Ing. After having fought the Luminoth for decades of war, the Ing were on the verge of defeating them, having stolen all but one of their planetary energies, and with all but one of the Luminoth in stasis tubes in the Great Temple. However, after Samus Aran came to Aether, she eliminated their kind by destroying Dark Aether. Since their dark-aligned bodies could not stand Aether's different atmosphere, they were left without a dimension to reside in and collapsed within it. Description While Ing appear as nearly every Darkling creature in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, there are much fewer "pure" Ing, and they are always found on Dark Aether. The reason behind this is that Ing, in their true forms, cannot survive outside of their dark world; as such they possess beings from the opposite dimension and by doing so, gain the ability to resist to the atmosphere of the normal dimension, allowing them to invade it. Most "pure" Ing appear as stationary and largely ignorable growths, such as the Bladepod and Ingclaw, but the Warrior and Hunter strains of Ing are much more formidable. These Ing are best fought from the safety of a Light Crystal, which produces a field that they rarely penetrate to avoid harm. Even when Samus obtains the Dark and Light Suits, the Light Crystals can still be energized with the Light Beam or Annihilator Beam in order to produce deadly traps for the Ing. While a good quantity of pure Ing appear in quite small forms, such as the Inglet or Ingstorm, Warrior Ing are almost the same height as a Luminoth. Samus also encounters two Warrior Ing who have been mutated after absorbing her stolen equipment, the Jump Guardian and the Boost Guardian. Though each type of Ing has its own strengths and weaknesses, they share a common weakness to light energy. During their war against the Luminoth, the Ing would generally attack by forcefully possessing nearby creatures or machines, which would darken and possibly mutate their form, and generally increase their offensive prowess. They preferred to possess creatures with a natural talent for combat, such as Aether's predators, the Luminoth warmachines and the Luminoth themselves. Later on, the extraterrestrial Space Pirates and Metroids became favorite hosts. These possessed creatures were dubbed "Darklings" by the Luminoth. Though these hybrid creatures were generally more powerful than their original forms, they gained the Ing's signature weakness to light energy. Specially armored Luminoth and Samus were safe from Ing possession, the latter from having acquired the Energy Transfer Module, which constantly generates light energy from within. It is unknown if any of the Darklings living on Light Aether survived the destruction of Dark Aether, but it is likely. It is known that one Dark Tallon Metroid was captured and dissected, and put on display in Metroid Processing on the Space Pirate Homeworld; however, an unreleased scan reveals that the dissected darkling was originally meant to be the result of Pirates attempting to create a possessed Metroid without needing an Ing. Ing forms It can be assumed that the larval form is the basic form of Ing life, and will eventually grow into one of the adult forms to fit the roles necessary for the Horde. Emperor Ing Emperor Ing is the eldest and strongest of the Ing Horde. He resides in the Sky Temple, with the main Dark Aether energy controller. Samus Aran's battle with this evil monstrosity is depicted in [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_Prime_2:_Echoes Metroid Prime 2: Echoes]. Being the very first Ing born from Dark Aether's creation, Emperor Ing has been mutated and strengthened by Phazon energy and the stolen Light of Aether. He has the capability of manipulating both dark and light energy to create attacks that can eat away Energy Tanks of Samus' health in seconds. In his first form, Emperor Ing resembles an Inglet with Hunter Ing tentacles. Samus can scan Emperor Ing's Body, Head, and Eye separately. To defeat the Emperor's first form, Samus must find a way to expose the creature's eye, which is his only vulnerable weakpoint. In order to bring down the Emperor's defenses, Samus must first tackle his tentacles, which he uses to attack Samus in various ways. The Emperor will try to whip Samus into the Phazon that lines the arena where he is fought, by swinging his tentacles around. He can use his tentacles to charge up and launch powerful energy spheres at Samus. He can also create miniature portals, through which he jabs his tentacles in an attempt to impale her. On the bright side, defeating a tentacle often leaves behind a power-up. After Samus causes the Emperor to retract all of his tentacles, his Eye, which can be scanned separately from the rest of his body, will be temporarily exposed. The Eye has two protective hemispheres rotating around it, and Samus must fire through the narrow break between them. Samus must lock onto and maneuver around the Eye, as the protective hemispheres rotate around it constantly, alternating their direction erratically. While his Eye is exposed, the Emperor can fire a powerful laser from it, which can stun Samus and prevent her from shooting. This particular part of the battle is reminiscent of Spore Spawn from [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Metroid Super Metroid], where the boss's weakpoint is exposed for only a brief period of time. Eventually, Emperor Ing will regenerate a protective covering for the Eye, and sprout new tentacles. Throughout the battle, Emperor Ing regrows his tenticles in varying numbers, until Samus finally deals enough damage to the Emperor's exposed Eye. Any weapon can damage the eye, though the Annihilator Beam missile combo seems to deal the most damage. In his second phase, the Emperor encases himself in an impermeable, magnetically-charged shell. This cocoon-like incarnation of the Emperor is surrounded by vents that expel poisonous gas, and Samus has no choice but to use her Spider Ball to attach to the cocoon to escape the gas that quickly fills the room. In this stage, the Emperor is undergoing metamorphosis, and Samus, unable to cause any real damage to the pupating Emperor inside, must wait the process out. This isn't easy to do, as tentacles emerge from the gas-emitting vents, trying to knock her away. To make matters worse, Inglets also emerge from the chrysallis, following Samus around. Samus must employ the use of her bombs to destroy the tentacles that emerge, and fight off the Inglets that don't stop coming. The Inglets and tentacles are a blessing in disguise, as destroying these yields bountiful health and ammunition. Samus can use this time to fill up on much-needed health; she can use Power Bombs to destroy multiple nuisances at once. It is possible to delay or speed up the Emperor's pupating process, by strategically choosing when to bomb the vents from where tentacles emerge. As Samus destroys more tentacles, the vents begin to release more gas into the room, and the gas levels rise to such a level that the damage taken from it is almost unavoidable. It also becomes harder to see, and Samus must maneuver through the thick poisonous mist that surrounds her, all while avoiding Inglet attacks, and getting knocked off by tentacles. Before long, the shell of the chrysalis breaks open, and Emperor Ing emerges in his true form. In his final form, Emperor Ing's heart, which has become unstable due to increased exposure to Phazon, and the Light of Aether, is exposed to Samus. He has become more mobile than his previous forms; in this form, he is more insect/arachnid-like in appearance, bearing resemblance to Warrior Ing and Metroid Prime. The final form of the Emperor is the easiest to damage, but has the most devastating attacks. With a new health bar, the Emperor Ing's only weak spot is its very large heart, located inside a mouth-like opening which he can open and close at will. When he closes his maw, Emperor Ing can change his heart's polarity to project a variety of beam attacks. While his Heart is orange, it cannot project any attacks, but when it is purple, it can create a powerful beam of shadow energy that freezes on contact and causes heavy damage, and when it is white, it can generate "light holes" that project devastating lasers of pure white energy. To recover health, it can spawn Nightbarbs or a previously un-encountered light-based creature, opposite to Nightbarbs, to consume as fodder. These can be destroyed by a mass area-affecting attack, such as the Sonic Boom, for plenty of pickups. Emperor Ing can't be damaged when his heart is orange; Samus must find a way to make the Emperor change his heart's polarity, thereby making him vulnerable to one of her weapons. To do this, Samus can attack the Emperor's orange heart with any combination of beams. As direct hits are necessary, however, beams can deplete light and dark energy rather quickly. Super Missiles are the most effective way to force Emperor Ing to change his heart's polarity. Once the Emperor's heart changes polarity, he becomes vulnerable to a beam of the opposite polarity. When the Emperor's heart is white, he is vulnerable to the Dark Beam, and when his heart is purple, he is vulnerable to the Light Beam. The Annihilator Beamcan hurt him in both cases. However, if he takes enough hits, the heart will revert back to orange. His attacks include beam attacks reminiscent of Warrior Ing, and a shockwave-inducing jump move similar to the Jump Guardian encountered in Dark Agon. As Emperor Ing's energy is depleted, it will begin to use a ramming attack, similar to Metroid Prime's. While the ram attack is hard to avoid, it is possible, and if Samus can manage to dodge it, the Emperor will run into a wall; he will stand stunned for a short time, revealing a small hole in its back, which is another viable exposure to his heart. When Emperor Ing's energy is depleted, he dies, yielding the last Light of Aether for the final Energy Controller. When Samus absorbs it, Dark Aether loses its stability and crumbles. Larvae An Ing Larva Swarm is a group of young Ing. They are found in the Entrance Defense Hall in the Ing Hive. They are the youngest form of Ing and they tend to stick together in large groups. If they survive long enough they will become either Inglets, Warrior Ing, Hunter Ing, or any other sub-species of Ing; it is unknown what decides their future class. Scanning them states that because they are small and weak individualy, they travel in swarms to increase their chances of survival. It is unknown how Ing Larvae are produced. In fact, [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_Prime_2:_Echoes Metroid Prime 2: Echoes]never makes mention of any possible existence of sexes within the Ing Horde. It is possible the Ing are hermaphrodites (fertilizing themselves or a partner) or reproduce asexually. Warriors Warrior '''[http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Ing '''Ing] are the basic soldiers of the Ing Horde, appearing in [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_Prime_2:_Echoes Metroid Prime 2: Echoes]. They are somewhat powerful, exercising fusion attacks, along with various kinetic offensives and dark energy-based laser blasts. At close range, their limbs serve as weapons. They can change into their gaseous form at will, in order to possess things (though Samus is invulnerable to this, as she carries the Energy Transfer Module). The Warrior Ing can also melt into the ground and slide across surfaces and up and down walls as a formless shadow. When these "shadows" are struck with light energy, their moving speed will dramatically increase. Warrior Ings, like several other types of Ing, feature a sphere containing a cluster of glowing red particles in its body, but unlike the other members, theirs resemble more to a compound eye (with the red particles being individual 'eye' units). These Warriors are quite vulnerable to light energy. When a large amount of Warrior Ing are found in a single room it most often contains a Sky Temple Key. Warrior Ing live on Dark Aether and when a Light Beacon or Light Crystal is shot with the Annihilator Beam, they will be drawn to the fatal environment. Six Warrior Ing steal Samus' upgrades near the beginning of Metroid Prime 2 and use them against her in some shape or form: those that stole the Space Jump Boots and Boost Ball without possessing another creature are featured as bosses and have been slightly mutated by the items; the Jump Guardian and Boost Guardian. The other four Warrior Ing ultimately end up possessing creatures. They are all killed by Samus later on. Hunters Hunter '''[http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Ing '''Ing] are very different in physiology from Warrior Ing, in that they have only four tentacles which intertwine in a mass of wires around a glowing sphere composed of red particles, which is the main body and/or eye. They are capable of phasing in and out of the current timespace, making them unable to be hurt or locked onto until they return to normal. When they possess a light creature, as well as increasing their strength and durability, they also grant it this ability to phase in and out of the local timespace, vastly increasing the creature's threat level. The Hunter Ing do not move fast, but can be quite devastating when they attack. Hunter Ing are ranked very highly among the other Ing. Among members of the Ing Horde, only Hunter Ing are allowed to assume possession of the Pirate Commandos, and even then competition is fierce. Their main diet seem to be the Nightbarbs inhabiting Dark Aether. Hunter Ing cannot use energy-based attacks like Warrior Ing, but instead whip at enemies with their tentacles and shift in and out of the current timespace, attacking enemies from another dimension. In this form, they can be tracked with the Dark Visor, but are quite difficult to lock on to due to their constant movement and teleportation out of the local timespace. The easiest way to defeat them before getting the Annihilator Beam is to fire normal shots at them; they will turn intangible if Samus fires a charged shot. Another way is to supercharge a Light Crystal or Beacon to incinerate them without risk of taking damage. Ingstorm Ingstorm are miniscule Ing forms that attack in large numbers. The Ing usually use them to guard areas that need to be accessible, but also strictly defended. Individually, these small Ing particles cause about as much damage as a pinch. But banded together, they can corrode even the strongest known alloys. Samus's suit being made of one such alloy, these Ing will rip right through its armor, even when equipped with the Dark Suit. The only way to pass through the "storm" of Ing particles without being dealt damage is to aquire the Light Suit. Ingstorms turn red and bounce away when approached and making contact whilst Samus wears the Light Suit. However, if Samus is able to jump correctly, she can also utilize the Screw Attackto simply fly right through without taking damage. Inglets ''' '''Inglets are small Ing that serve as the Horde's labourers. They are not well-equipped for combat, but can still shapeshift into the characteristic Ing blob form, as well as fire a small chunk of dark matter to defend themselves. When they take a solid shape, their main body and/or eye seems to be a glowing red mass wrapped in black vines, a trait seen in other types of Ing. They often travel in large swarms, and are a nuisance for Samus as they sometimes inhabit places where her Morph Ball must stay attached to Spider Ball Tracks Darklings Darkling is a Luminoth term used to identify Ing-possessed creatures and mechanoids. It is also used to identify original bioforms that can only be seen on Dark Aether. According to scans, the Ing race were initially unaware of their ability to invade another being's body. They first learned to possess organic creatures early on in the war against the Luminoth until finally learning how to do the same to robots near the conflict's final stages (prior to Samus' arrival to Aether). Darkling-possession is the Ing Horde's solution into gaining access to the Light dimension, in which its atmosphere is otherwise fatal to them. An Ing invades the opposite dimension by creating a small portal and emerges in a gaseous form to possess the nearest being within its range, be it synthetic or organic. Its victim, now under complete control of the Ing that possessed it, gains an altered physical appearance following an Ing's entry: one change that is seen in all ''possessions is an overall purple/darker shade of color. Other possible changes are the growths of thorns and spikes on the possessed's body, and the least common mutation is the addition of a red glowing sphere on the Darkling; this sphere is likely the same cluster of red particles seen in several pure Ing. Darkling-possession is also possible with deceased bioforms, however it seems that the time it usually takes for complete parasitic fusion (a mere few seconds) is exponentially extended in this case and until it is reached, the "resurrected" Darkling will have slow movements and reflexes (similar to a typical zombie). A being combining with an Ing tends to greatly increase the former's natural health and/or attacks, while making them highly vulnerable to light based weaponry. However, if a powerful Ing were to possess a weak being for whatever reason, the resulting Darkling could potentially be weaker than the pure form of Ing. A lone Ing possessing an incredibly powerful being is seemingly impossible, and instead takes an untold amount of Ing to successfully take over such a being: this was the case for the Quadraxis drone. A Darkling's body allows the ''dark Ing within to survive in the light dimension, and the presence of said Ing preserves the'' light body from deteriorating inside the corrosive dark dimension. Some Ing bring their possessed victims to their homeworld and add to the Ing Horde's numbers. As a result, the Ing army is composed of a variety of beings, ranging from mechanoids, wildlife and others. Early on in the war for Aether's planetary energy, the Luminoth were among the first to be targeted for Darkling-possession, creating Dark Luminoths (most likely one of the first species of Darklings to exist). The only way to separate an Ing from its host without the Ing's consent is to kill the host, which subsequently kills the dark creature with it. Darklings usually have Aether counterparts, such as the Dark Splinter and the Splinter. However, some of them do not have any. The Dark Phlogus, the Amorbis, Darkling Tentacles and Nightbarbs are such examples. These creatures could be considered as 'original' Darklings, as they were seemingly born on Dark Aether without having any light counterpart possessed and/or brought over to the dark world (though how they were created this way is uncertain). Samus Aran and specially armored Luminoth seem to be immune from any form of darkling-possession, the former having acquired the Energy Transfer Module early on in [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid_Prime_2:_Echoes ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes], which generates a constant light energy from within, thus making it impossible for her to become a Darkling. If the special armor of a Luminoth were to break and allow access to an Ing, the wearer would be prepared to end his/her own life before losing his/her will. There are uniquely powerful Luminoths, however, that possess incredible stamina and psychic durability capable of fending off Darkling-possessions without the use of the mentioned armor: A-Voq was one such Luminoth that pushed away numerous Ings attempting to possess him. Category:Enemy Faction